People

Local Organizing Committee

The Local Organizing Committee (LOC) is responsible for planning and executing all on-site aspects of the event. Its role includes coordinating logistics such as venues, accommodation, transportation, and technical infrastructure, as well as supporting the academic program. The LOC also ensures participants’ safety and well-being, manages volunteers, and represents the host country’s culture and hospitality, helping to create a smooth, fair, and memorable IOL experience for all participants.

Paul Helmer Chair, Finance
Valentina Cojocaru Accommodation
Roxana Preda Venue, Logistics
Vlad Neacșu Public Relations
Mihai Bratu Technology
Tamara Ivanof User Experience

Jury

The academic nucleus of IOL is the Problem Committee (PC), a permanent body composed of researchers, teachers and former participants, all experienced solvers, testers and composers of the genre of self-sufficient linguistics problems. The PC works the whole year in the multilingual composition of the problems, in order to guarantee that all language versions of the problems are functionally equal. You can learn more about the PC here.

During the event, the academic work (distributing the problems, overseeing the exams, marking the papers, presenting solutions, giving awards) is done by an International Jury, composed by members drawn from the PC. The list of Jury members for IOL 2026 can be consulted below:

Aida Davletova

PC member since 2025

IOL contestant in 2022 and 2023

BA student in Computational Linguistics at the University of Tübingen. Teaching assistant for syntax & semantics and computational linguistics. Involved with Kazakhstan's LO (PC Chair) and GeO, as well as DOL (Germany). Amateur piphilologist, Wikipedia editor, enjoyer of coffee and Kazakh folk.

Aleksejs Peguševs

PC member since 2012

IOL contestant in 2008, 2009 and 2010

Composer of music and linguistic problems, educator, mind sports athlete (mainly competitive Carcassonne). Masters in Linguistics from University of Oxford (2018) and Masters in Music from Sibelius Academy, Finland (2017).

Alexander Piperski

PC member since 2006

IOL contestant in 2004 and 2005

Moscow Traditional Linguistics Olympiad and APLO committee member. Senior lecturer at the Slavic Department at Stockholm University, research fellow at the Сhair of Computational Сorpus Linguistics at Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg. Fond of public transport and cannoli siciliani.

Ana Meta Dolinar

PC member since 2024

IOL contestant in 2017 and 2019

Studied Computer Science with a specialisation in Natural Language Processing at Cambridge University (Bachelor's + Master's). Originally from Slovenia, but I have lived in 6 countries and currently work in the Netherlands. Involved with the linguistic olympiad in Slovenia (primarily as a reviewer) since 2019. I enjoy trail running, board games and bubble tea.

Andrey Nikulin

PC member since 2018

IOL contestant in 2008, 2009 and 2010

Faculty member at Núcleo Takinahakỹ de Formação Superior Indígena, Federal University of Goiás, specializing in South American indigenous languages. Ph.D. in Linguistics from University of Brasília. Enjoys reptiles and the traditional cultures of Trinidad, Venezuela, Northern Brazil, and Eastern Bolivia.

Angela Hou

PC member since 2025

Undergraduate in Linguistics at Princeton University and NACLO committee member. Interested in Optimality-Theoretic approaches to the morphosyntax-phonology interface, especially Match Theory. Passionate about language revitalization, Zapotec languages, and dispelling transphobia, amatonormativity, and bad linguistics. Lover of fossils, minerals, trees, birds, Chopin études, boba, and other miscellanea and ephemera.

Boris Iomdin

PC member since 2003

Linguist specializing in lexicography and semantics, teaching linguistics and languages to children, high school, and university students in Russian, English, German, and Hebrew. Author of hundreds of linguistic problems, including 17 at the IOL. A fan of playing linguistic games, reading books, and researching linguistic games in books.

www.borisiomdin.com
Bruno L'Astorina

PC member since 2011

Co-founder and general coordinator of the Brazilian LO. Works of different projects in education, translation and public communication. In linguistics education, likes to bring insights on the diversity and unicity of human nature. Enjoys traveling, investigating the nature of mind from within and grouping things in sets of three legs.

Dan-Mircea Mirea

PC member since 2019

IOL contestant in 2014 and 2015

PhD candidate in Psychology at Princeton University, Bachelor's and Masters' from University of Cambridge. Romanian LO member since 2015, and former Chair of the Romanian PC. Linguistics & psychology content creator @danniesbrain on TikTok and Instagram. Avid singer, fan of board games, and pop/internet culture enthusiast.

www.dan-mirea.com
Daniel Rucki

PC member since 2012

IOL contestant in 2010, 2011 and 2012

Studied Linguistics at the University of Cambridge, has collaborated with the Polish and Estonian LOs. Interested in language acquisition, historical linguistics, board games and travelling (especially to places with mountains).

Eimear McKnight

PC member since 2019

IOL contestant in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018

PhD student in Linguistics at Queen Mary University of London researching syntax and sociolinguistics of trans & non-binary communities, and UKLO Problem Committee member.

Elysia Warner

PC member since 2018

IOL contestant in 2013 and 2014

UKLO committee member since 2014. Studied Chinese and Linguistics at the University of Cambridge. Now a civil servant who enjoys knitting, cryptic crosswords, and Bollywood dance.

Gabrijela Hladnik

PC member since 2011

PC and Jury member 2011-2023. Works as software quality consultant. Slovenian LO member since the beginning. Travels the world as digital nomad. Enjoys teaching, jigsaw puzzles and food tasting.

Ivan Derzhanski

PC member since 2003

PhD (Cognitive Science, Edinburgh). Associate professor (Institute for Mathematics and Informatics, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences); does research in theoretical linguistics, lectures in computational linguistics, natural language processing and Python programming. Singlehandedly in charge of the Olympiad in Linguistics in Bulgaria (since 1998). Co-founder of IOL (2003).

Jan Petr

PC member since 2021

IOL contestant in 2015, 2016 and 2017

Postdoctoral researcher in Mathematics at the University of Passau. Member of the organizing team of ČLO. Fond of puzzles and games of various sorts, of learning and teaching, and of playing ultimate frisbee.

Kazune Sato

PC member since 2023

IOL contestant in 2019

DPhil student in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at University of Oxford, with primary research focus on historical Japanese linguistics and generative syntax. BA in Linguistics from University College London and MPhil in Linguistics from University of Cambridge. Member of Japan LO committee, UKLO committee and APLO PC. Foodie and a strong tea lover, as well as a passionate fan of card and board games, travelling, and learning new languages.

Ksenia Gilyarova

PC member since 2003

PhD in General Linguistics and French teacher. Currently studying for a Master’s in French as a Foreign Language (FLE) at the University of Lille, France. Author of ten IOL problems. Parent of three. Enjoys hiking, jogging, and writing.

Maria Rubinstein

PC member since 2003

Moscow Traditional Linguistics Olympiad Problem Committee member since 1997, IOL Problem Committee member since the beginning. Working on Israeli Linguistics Olympiad. And a hobbyist photographer.

Mihai Bratu

PC member since 2025

IOL contestant in 2021, 2022 and 2023

BSc student in Computer Science at the Delft University of Technology. Member of Romanian PC since 2023 and co-Chair since 2025. Enjoys board games, travelling and cycling.

Milena Veneva

PC member since 2013

Master of Science in Applied Mathematics (Sofia University). Applied mathematician. Bulgarian National Olympiad in Linguistics Problem Committee member since 2010. Author/co-author of dozens of linguistic problems assigned at the national olympiads worldwide, as well as 5 given at the IOL.

www.linkedin.com/in/mveneva
Samuel Ahmed

PC member since 2018

IOL contestant in 2015, 2016 and 2017

Lecturer in Linguistics (phonetics and phonology) at the University of Amsterdam, having completed a BA and research MA at Cambridge and Leiden Universities respectively. (Co-)author of 9 IOL problems. Enjoys board games, D&D, film and (naturally) language learning.

Shinjini Ghosh

PC member since 2018

IOL contestant in 2016, 2017 and 2018

APLO and PLO (India) Problem Committee member. Undergraduate in Computer Science and Linguistics, followed by MEng from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Enjoys painting, Indian classical dance, cooking, and board games.

Stanislav Gurevich

PC member since 2004

One of the organizers of Spanish LO. Founder (2001) and permanent director of Traditional Linguistics Summer School in Estonia. Passionate fan of seasonal mushroom-hunting.

Taehun Lee

PC member since 2009

IOL contestant in 2008

Lecturer in the Department of Russian Language and Literature at Seoul National University. Research interests include Russian Literature, Japanese literature, and Comparative Literature.

Tung-Le Pan

PC member since 2018

IOL contestant in 2017 and 2018

APLO and HKLO (Hong Kong; also co-founder) Problem Committee member. MA student in linguistics at the National Taiwan University.

Ákos Blaskovics

PC member since 2024

IOL contestant in 2018 and 2019

Studied Linguistics at Eötvös Loránd University Budapest (BA) and the University of Edinburgh (MSc), specialising in phonetics and phonology. Hungarian LO member since 2019. Enjoys theatre and classical music.

Volunteers

In addition to the permanent bodies and to the LOC, running the actual IOL involves a lot of hands-on activities, performed by a group of national and international volunteers – working especially in coordinating, escorting and concierge-ing the students, but also preparing activities, distributing materials and keeping the flow and the energy of daily-life at IOL.

The list of volunteers for IOL 2026 will be shown here once the volunteer selection is finalized.

Participants

The participants consist of delegations of Contestants, Team Leaders and additional Observers, representing their Country or Territory. They take part in the competition, academic discussions and cultural activities, contributing to the international and collaborative spirit of the IOL.

The list of participating Countries and Territories for IOL 2026 will be updated based on the registered delegations.